


꽃이야, 별

by taeminki



Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 05:49:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13734474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taeminki/pseuds/taeminki
Summary: Taeyang opened up a flower shop with high hopes, but it's been a year and he only has one regular-- who's never even there to buy flowers.





	꽃이야, 별

**꽃이야**   
**\- [FLOWER]**

"Technically, I don't allow food or drink in here."

"Technically, you opened your shop between a boba store and a bakery. It's no wonder you don't have any customers."

Taeyang watched Youngkyun sit with a glare in his eyes, but he wasn't actually angry. He wasn't going to enforce his rule with Youngkyun, either; he only mentioned the rule as a conversation starter. He continued with, "I assume you're coming from that boba shop?"

"Bakery, boba, you." Youngkyun said, pulling a muffin out of the bag he'd set on the counter. He slid into one of the chairs Taeyang had put next to the counter-- inspired by Youngkyun, who had spent enough hours in his shop that Taeyang decided it was time for him to have a place to sit. Youngkyun appreciated it, mentioning, the first time he'd been able to sit in Taeyang's shop, "Now I don't have to worry about my feet hurting when I leave here."

"Do you like boba?" Youngkyun asked as he took a sip of his drink. It was green; honeydew, Taeyang assumed. In response to the question, Taeyang shrugged, "It's okay. I like the milk tea by itself, though," and Youngkyun nodded. He wondered, "Favorite?" and Taeyang always had a hard time deciding, but he settled for "Lavender. Or rose."

"You really are a flower man, huh?" Youngkyun asked. He had a newly bright smile on his lips, and his baby blue straw sat between his teeth for a moment. Taeyang memorized the snapshot, finding Youngkyun particularly beautiful in that moment.

(Taeyang had known Youngkyun for three months; just three days after meeting him, Taeyang developed the biggest crush on him. It had developed into the type of crush in which Taeyang had dreams about him almost every night-- it was ridiculous. But, Taeyang was happy.)

"What can I say? I think they're beautiful." _I think_ you're _beautiful, too_.

"They are." Youngkyun said. He stopped for a moment, the bottom of his milk tea meeting the table. He leaned against his chin, and studied Taeyang's face. Taeyang was silent, but showed his confusion with wide, averted eyes-- looking everywhere except for Youngkyun. Youngkyun only left them in silence for a minute-- "Yesterday, your favorite flower was... a lily. No?"

"I believe that's what I said." Taeyang said. Youngkyun made a victory gesture-- tightening his fist and lifted into the air with one sharp move. He bit his bottom lip; he even made a small sound-- and Taeyang took another momentary snapshot.

Youngkyun picked up his tea again, "And today it is?"

Taeyang told Youngkyun, months ago, that his favorite flower changed day by day, which wasn't necessarily true-- he didn't have a favorite, but he hadn't wanted to phrase his answer like _that_. It was a thing for the two, now-- for Youngkyun to ask what his favorite flower was every day. Taeyang's answer always depended on Youngkyun that day-- whatever color he was wearing would remind Taeyang of his favorite shade from a particular flower, and that's what he would say. Today, Youngkyun wore a baby blue shirt with a soft yellow jacket over it-- and Taeyang couldn't see his pants, but he already had a flower in mind, "Sunflowers."

(Taeyang imagined a pretty yellow sunflower against a blue sky, and thought there was something poetic about the fact that the flower was bigger than the sky-- that Youngkyun's yellow jacket was covering the blue of his shirt.)

"Sunflowers." Youngkyun repeated, "Simple. I like it."

"And you _adore_  lilacs," Taeyang said as he was walking around the counter, heading towards the lilac sections. He carefully picked the most perfect one he saw, and brought it back to Youngkyun-- presented it to him, "So here's your lilac of the day."

"Every day, you make my heart flutter," Youngkyun said, and he held the flower stem in his fist-- fist to his chest, like his heart was really fluttering, and he was trying to control it with his hand. Snapshot.

"Who did you get in here today?" Youngkyun asked, pulling a notebook from his bag. Youngkyun wasn't about to take notes on what Taeyang said; but he _was_  going to listen in while he was working on his math problems. Youngkyun was still a student-- one more year, he said, and that's what really got him through. He was going to be a journalist-- and he was going to travel, and essentially leave Taeyang, so Taeyang was really trying to make the most out of these last few months with him.

"Well, I don't get many people here in the winter." Taeyang said. He looked out at the snow hitting his shop windows, and wished he would have thought about the winter months _before_  he opened up a flower shop. (Would that have actually stopped him? No.)

"This morning, a man came in and ordered a bouquet of roses. He's either trying to apologize for something, or tell someone he really, really loves them. Or maybe it's just a crush. Roses are pretty flexible." Youngkyun said. Taeyang tapped his eraser against his notebook a few times-- shaking his pencil between his fingers and thinking, "I bet he's confessing to someone. Just a crush-- but he _really_  wants to make an impression. Was he cute?"

"He looked young."

Taeyang and Youngkyun's conversation was cut short by a costumer entering the shop, asking for a hibiscus flower. Taeyang cut him one, and he left after he paid-- simple, no questions (unlike Taeyang usually got-- like "Is this good for a confession?" or "Would you give a flower like this to your step-mother after your wedding?").

"That one?" Youngkyun asked when he was gone. Taeyang had to think for a moment, "Maybe... his mother. Or his wife. Maybe even his sister-- some pretty woman that he cares a lot about."

"Grandmother?" Youngkyun asked, and Taeyang shrugged, "I don't see why not."

"I think it's sweet when people give flowers to their grandmothers." Youngkyun said. His voice was fading a bit-- unfocused, but that didn't stop him from talking, "I don't think people care about their grandparents enough anymore.... I haven't visited my grandmother for a few months now.... She's all the way in Gwangju...."

"You should visit her when you have a break." Taeyang suggested, to which Youngkyun nodded, "I always visit her on breaks... haven't had one in a while...."

"What will you do when you're traveling? Will you still visit her?" Taeyang asked. Youngkyun was silent for a minute, furiously writing the answer to a math problem that, if his expression was anything to go by, seemed to have just clicked in his mind. He made a small celebratory noise when he was through writing it, and looked up at Taeyang, "Yes. All the time. And I'll make sure to come back here all the time and visit you, too."

"Good." Taeyang said. Silence fell between them once again, but it was comfortable. Youngkyun was particularly focused on one of his homework problems, and Taeyang was particularly focused on Youngkyun. Snapshot. Snapshot. Snapshot. Taeyang may as well have his mental camera set on video, or take an actual picture.

"Tell me about the other one," Youngkyun said eventually, looking up, "The other customer that came before I did."

Taeyang could hardly remember it, so he made something up, "Uh. Someone came in and asked for a single rose-- just one little red rose, without thorns. They were probably, uh... telling someone they loved them. Again. Roses usually mean love."

"Roses are pretty. I like love a lot." Youngkyun said. He looked up at Taeyang, "What do you think about love, hyung?"

"Uh," Taeyang muttered, licking his lips. Youngkyun didn't call Taehyung _hyung_  very much-- which Taeyang didn't mind. It actually made him a little nervous when Youngkyun _did_.

"I think love is... wonderful. I, uh-- wonder when I'll find it." Taeyang said. Youngkyun looked at him silent for a moment, and smiled-- just a little smile on his lips, no teeth, and only a slight crinkle around his eyes. Snapshot.

"You never know." Youngkyun said. He started to put his things in his bag, "I'm going to go, hyung. I think I need to pull out my laptop for these problems. But I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Youngkyun hugged Taeyang over the counter, and left his muffin with Taeyang-- "I know I interrupted your lunch break, so here," and he left after that. Taeyang didn't particularly like chocolate-- was never one to take to the mix of _sweet_  and _bread_ , but he ate the muffin anyway. The taste made him think of Youngkyun-- on the simple basis that Youngkyun gave it to him-- and he thought he could learn to like it.

 

  
**별**   
**\- [STAR]**

"What if I told you I like stars better than flowers?" Youngkyun asked. It was a Friday, and it was summer. June. It was hot; Taeyang was a little miserable. Youngkyun made his days better-- but his last comment had Taeyang rolling his eyes, and wiping a drop of sweat off of his brow-- and snickering, "I'd say you're crazy."

"Why?" Youngkyun wondered. He was looking particularly beautiful that day-- perhaps because Youngkyun hadn't seem him lately-- perhaps because he'd dyed his hair a pretty lilac color-- perhaps because he took particularly well to the lilac Taeyang had given him-- perhaps because he'd brought Taeyang a rose milk tea and apologized for not coming by-- perhaps because he was eating a chocolate muffin and all Taeyang could think about was him tasting like that sweet bread Taeyang had come to love. Snapshot. Snapshot. Snapshot.

"Stars are so _far away_ ," Taeyang said, and felt his stomach drop as the thought of Youngkyun leaving came to his mind. He hardly heard his own words, "Flowers are right here, right now.... I hate when things are far away," and focused, instead, on how he felt not seeing Youngkyun for a _week_ , much less being without him for months at a time. He didn't notice how prolonged the silence between them was, either, until Youngkyun spoke again, "I'll visit you a lot."

"Hmm?" Taeyang asked, having completely lost the conversation for a moment. It came back to him, but he didn't say anything, and instead waited for Youngkyun to talk again. Youngkyun looked nervous, and a little sad, and kind of shy-- reminding Taeyang of the first time he'd entered Taeyang's flower shop. Taeyang never did find out why he looked so sad that day; but he did understand why Youngkyun looked sad today, "I'll seem far away but I won't be."

"I know. I mean-- you will be, but--" Taeyang stopped to look at him. Youngkyun looked _really_  upset, now that Taeyang had taken a moment to bring his mind completely to the situation. He even had tears forming in his eyes, and a tremble in his bottom lip. His hands were hidden beneath the table; by the lift of his tense shoulders, Taeyang thought he might have them tucked nervously between his legs. Taeyang wondered, "Are you-- crying--?"

"Yeah," Youngkyun said, and he laughed a little bit-- embarrassed-- and that's when the tears actually fell. Taeyang didn't know what to do; in the months he'd known Youngkyun, he'd never seen him cry. (He expected to see him cry once, as Youngkyun told him to, but he was so happy all the time-- it had slipped Taeyang's mind, that he was emotional.)

Youngkyun started to wipe away his tears and mumble "I'm sorry," but Taeyang told him not to be. He asked, a little awkward, "Can I-- can I do something--?" and Youngkyun nodded, but couldn't tell Taeyang what it was right away. Taeyang was patient, and follow Youngkyun's instruction to "Come-- come over here and hug me," and held him to his chest after rushing around the counter. Youngkyun didn't cry very hard-- no sobs, only sniffles-- no soaking Taeyang's shirt, only getting a few tears on his chest. He pulled away from the hug after a minute, and told Taeyang, "I've come to really like you over these past few months, hyung. I don't really want to leave you."

"It's okay. It's your dream. If you have to be my little star and go far away, well-- hey, I can learn to love stars. It's not that hard. I already think they're pretty." Taeyang said. Youngkyun laughed. The last of his tears fell onto his cheeks, and he wiped them away. He looked up at Taeyang, and it occurred to Taeyang that they'd never actually been this close before. There was always a counter separating them. (He liked this.)

"I never actually liked flowers that much. When I came in here, I didn't like flowers." Youngkyun said. Again, he wiped his eyes, as they were still damp-- "You made me like flowers, hyung."

"And you're going to make me like stars." Taeyang said. Youngkyun nodded-- wiped his eyes again, perhaps to avoid making eye contact with Taeyang. Taeyang wondered if Youngkyun would be more comfortable if he went around to the other side of the counter again, but Youngkyun started with-- "Can I tell you something, hyung?" before Taeyang could make a move. Taeyang said "Of course," and Youngkyun warned, "You might not like it," and Taeyang said, "I like everything about you," and Youngkyun smiled-- and maybe it was that comment that gave him enough confidence to say "I think I've really... _actually_  started to like you, hyung," because he seemed almost too nervous to say it before-- like it was going to take him a few tries to actually spit out the confession, if he ever did.

"Really?" Taeyang asked. Youngkyun nodded, silent and patient-- waiting. Taeyang smiled a little bit, and slowly brought his hands to Youngkyun's face and admired his patient, waiting eyes. Snapshot. "I've really started to like you too, Youngkyun."

Youngkyun smiled-- brightest smile Taeyang had ever seen on his face. _Snapshot_. He leaned up to hug Taeyang again, and muttered into his shoulder "I really don't want to leave you now," and Taeyang laughed, but made sure to remind Youngkyun, "It's your dream to travel. You've had that dream for years," and Youngkyun said "I know. But I think I might like you longer than I'll like my job," and that was funny, because Taeyang had had that thought a few moments ago-- thinking briefly about loving stars and wondering if he would come to love stars more-- or longer than-- he would love flowers.

"Love your job while you can," Taeyang said. He rubbed Youngkyun's back-- soft, and with a certain rhythm that they would both hear if they weren't speaking, "I'll be around for a while."

"I want to kiss you, but I don't want to stop hugging you, either." Youngkyun said. _Kiss_  sounded nice, and Taeyang pulled away from the hug-- despite Youngkyun's little whine, to kiss him softly. It was a feeling this time, not a picture, but Taeyang took a snapshot anyway-- a snapshot of black visuals but all the pretty feelings--and thought it was beautiful that, with Youngkyun, a blank picture could make him feel so much.

"What's your favorite flower today, hyung?" Youngkyun asked, seeming to just remember to ask the question. Taeyang still had his eyes closed, being so close to Youngkyun-- noses brushing, foreheads together, hands stroking each other's arms and waist-- Taeyang's and Youngkyun's, respectively. Taeyang couldn't remember exactly what Youngkyun was wearing, but he already had an answer in mind.

"You are."


End file.
